


Daniel in the Den

by Wolfgrowl



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Platonic Relationships, Title from a Bastille Song
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2019-08-23 12:00:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16618580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfgrowl/pseuds/Wolfgrowl
Summary: Firestar rubs his brain cells together and doesn't make Ashfur Lionblaze's mentor. He apprentices him to Stormfur first, to show that he's as much a ThunderClan warrior as his father. There's a few hiccups along the way and it changes it things for the Three, especially Lionpaw.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea wouldn't leave me alone since I read Outcast and it finally demanded that I write it, and my goal was to write it in snippets and scenes rather than a full story.
> 
> Jokes on me.
> 
> Anyway title stolen from a Bastille song since I had it on repeat while I wrote this.

The moment after the apprentices’ names are announced there is a beat of silence before the cheering begins. Lionpaw looks to Stormfur for explanation, but the gray tom’s eyes are dark, not the startled excitement of the heartbeat before.

But then he gives Lionpaw a gentle nudge and Lionpaw lifts his head, he’s a warrior apprentice now! He looks to Firestar and sees warmth in the leader’s gaze and blinks back at him. He’ll make him proud.

He just hopes he can make Stormfur proud too.

The moment after the cheering stops the whispering begins. Lionpaw can hear it so he knows Jaypaw can, and his brother looks furious. The murmuring is as much about Lionpaw as it is Jaypaw.

“A RiverClan warrior-”

“Poor mite, he’s so small too, cruel to let him get his hopes up isn’t it?”

“He’s Graystripe’s son of course Firestar would give him an apprentice-“

“Especially his own grandkit.”

“Brightheart,” Stormfur’s voice rises over the din, “did you want to take them to see the territory or…”

“I was going to have Jaypaw take care of the elder’s den.”

Lionblaze spots the flash of anger in his brother’s blue eyes, “maybe I could help?”

“I was going to suggest that,” Stormfur admits, he looks amused, “come to think of it, you two have already explored the territory haven’t you?”

Jaypaw rolls his eyes but Lionpaw dares to give his mentor a dirty look, “Firestar let us become apprentices didn’t he?”

Stormfur laughs, “got your mother’s spunk alright.”

“Hey!” Stormfur’s eyes go wide at Squirrelflight’s rebuke  from across camp, Jaypaw and Lionpaw laughed at him and even Brightheart, who’d gone oddly tense as Stormfur talked relaxed with a chuckle.

“Might help keep them out of trouble to keep them together,” she agrees, Lionpaw grumbles under his breath to Jaypaw.

“Sneak out of camp to hunt foxes one time.”

Jaypaw turns his head towards him, whiskers flicking in amusement, “don’t worry. Someday we’ll give them something else to talk about.” He sank his claws into the ground, and Lionpaw wondered who he was trying to reassure.

He leans into him, “you bet.”

-

Taking care of the elders is thankless work because Mousefur is unmatched when it comes to demanding the quality of her moss.

Lionpaw pads past their mentors in time to see Jaypaw has his silently simmering face on, and it doesn’t take long to figure out why.

Longtail’s talking about being blind, but all the stuff he’s saying Lionpaw knows Jaypaw can do, and he gives his brother another two heartbeats before he snaps.

“Longtail?” Lionpaw speaks up before Jaypaw can, his brother glares at him but he’s trying to help, “Jaypaw already knows that.”

Mousefur goes to speak but Lionpaw is probably as angry and tired of this as Jaypaw is, “ _he_ was the one to track the foxes! Hollypaw and I would’ve been lost in the woods but he could find the scent when none of us could. He found the fox den.”

“But he didn’t have the common sense not to stick his head in a fox den did he,” Mousefur huffed, Lionpaw flattens his ears but it’s Jaypaw who snaps.

“Don’t take it out on me just because your hips ache! I’m not a helpless kit who needs everyone to protect him!” that last bit is directed at Lionpaw, he accepts it without flinching, he knows he went too far, Jaypaw doesn’t like to be spoken for. “I’ve always been blind but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel you looking at me the way you do, the way Stormfur is right now!”

Lionpaw whirled in time to see the flash of guilt on his mentor’s face, Brightheart looks at Stormfur with what looks like disappointment.

“Sorry Jay,” he murmurs, he watches his brother deflate, fur no longer standing on end but obviously still upset.

He flicks an ear at Lionpaw in acknowledgement, and opens his mouth before snapping it shut again. Instead he snags a piece of dirty moss and flings at him, striking him square in the muzzle. And Lionpaw doesn’t need Jaypaw’s weird perceptiveness to see that all the older cats are stunned by his accuracy.

“Go get more fresh moss,” his brother replies, and then with a slight hint of pleasure, “and you can ask Leafpool for mouse bile, Longtail has a tick.”

Lionpaw sticks his tongue out at him but he can see Jaypaw’s in better spirits now as he pads out of the elder’s den, and he hopes everything will still be fine when he comes back with the mouse bile.

-

The next few days he spends a lot of time with Jaypaw to the point he kind of worries he’s getting on his brother’s nerves. He can tell Stormfur is getting on Brightheart’s, always having them tag along with whatever they’re doing.

One such hunting trip and Lionpaw trails behind, he’s liking being an apprentice a lot less than he thought he would. It always feels tense, though he can tell Stormfur is trying and always praises him when he does something right, but that doesn’t make up for how miserable he feels right now.

Brightheart is occasionally glancing over her shoulder to look at Stormfur and Lionpaw can’t tell what she’s feeling but he doubts it’s anything positive.

Stormfur slows to let him catch up, and blinks gently at him, “how did you sleep Lionpaw?”

“I slept fine!” He waved his tail, “I was exhausted after yesterday.” One of the few rare days Stormfur had separated from Brightheart, and taken Lionpaw down to the lake. He’d been determined to teach him how to swim.

When Lionpaw had pointed out that he was a ThunderClan cat and they didn’t swim Stormfur had replied with a story about the journey to Midnight, and how Brambleclaw had almost drowned. That had been enough to convince Lionpaw that maybe it would be worth knowing the basics. Just in case.

But it had been exhausting to swim for that long, Stormfur had ended up carrying him partway home, Lionpaw hadn’t been slung over someone’s shoulder’s since he’d had “badger” rides as a kit, and it had been nice. Like for the first time he’d felt a real connection to his mentor. Like Stormfur felt sure of himself and of Lionpaw.

They came to a clearing, Brightheart settled down at the roots of a tree and after a heartbeat’s hesitation Stormfur sat next to her.

Jaypaw sat down with a heavy sigh, Lionpaw wondered if he could somehow hear or smell the tension between their mentors, because it was very visible.

“Stormfur’s not following us around because he thinks you can’t mentor me, he’s worried that he can’t mentor Lionpaw,” Jaypaw stated bluntly, Lionpaw blinked at, Brightheart’s eye widened and Stormfur’s jaw fell open.

“I- Jaypaw-”

“Everyone expects great things from us, when they’re not expecting us to be entitled brats anyway, so they’re paying close attention to me, Lionpaw and Hollypaw,” Jaypaw drew himself and mocked some of their clanmates, “ _not a surprise Hollypaw’s being a medicine cat, Firestar was always kicking and yowling in his sleep, they should be grateful they’ll get a good night’s sleep._ ” He dropped back to his more slumped shoulder, ears flattened, pose, “and I’m blind so that means I’m never going to amount to anything but Lionpaw already looks like Brambleclaw so everyone expected him to be a great warrior but then Firestar made Stormfur his mentor and now the Clan thinks he’s going to mangle it up, so he keeps following you around because he doesn’t know how to mentor a ThunderClan cat and he’s afraid he’ll prove them right.”

Lionpaw had to try not to snicker at his mentor’s face, both he and Brightheart looked stunned. Jaypaw wasn’t done though, he turned his head to Stormfur, “and Brightheart thinks you’re following her around because you don’t think she can mentor me, and I’m tired of you two spending more time glaring at each other than teaching me how to hunt that shrew I can hear over there-” he angrily jerked his head to a nearby tree, “so if you’d talk that out or whatever so I can learn how to hunt?”

Now Lionpaw was seriously struggling because none of what Jaypaw had said was funny but Brightheart and Stormfur’s expressions were. He leaned over to Jaypaw and wheezed, “warn me before you do something like that, they’d be less stunned if you’d killed a badger.”

Jaypaw let out a sigh, “do they show any signs of talking or am I going to have to hope the shrew dies of old age?”

Lionpaw shrugged, “not sure, they’re kind of staring at you now.”

Jaypaw sighed again and laid down, crossing his paws, “my eyes don’t work but my ears do you know. I’ve heard what the Clan says about me, and they were talking about Stormfur even before we got made apprentices.”

Lionpaw wasn’t as smart as his siblings, he knew that but he added, “at our ceremony too, everyone was talking.” Even he’d noticed that.

Stormfur let out a rough breath, “he’s right.” He admitted quietly, “the best time I’ve had training Lionpaw was teaching him how to swim.” He looked terrified of how Brightheart would take that, but she blinked thoughtfully as he spoke, “he’s the grandson of the leader, the son of the deputy, he’s the embodiment of ThunderClan and Firestar gave him _to me_.”

Brightheart’s gaze was on Jaypaw, “I’m sorry Stormfur.” Her good ear flattened, “I just wanted some time to get to know just Jaypaw because he was my first apprentice and he was always going to be a challenge for whoever his mentor was-” her attention snapped to Lionpaw’s brother before either could speak, “because of your personality Jaypaw, you’re very critical of yourself and others.”

Jaypaw paused and Lionpaw offered, “she’s right you know.”

Jaypaw gave him a dirty look, but Lionpaw licked his brother on the head, making him pull away in disgust.

“How do you even swim anyway,” he asked, whiskers twitching, “you’re all fluff you’d just sink like a rock.”

“Stormfur said I was good at it!” For a first try but still! It counted! He could see by his brother’s amused expression that he knew the full complement but he let it slide.

Brightheart rested her tail on Stormfur’s shoulder,  “why don’t you go take Lionpaw for some one on one training, and I’ll help you later.”

Stormfur nodded, he blinked at her gratefully, “thank you.”

Brightheart let out a quiet laugh, “and Stormfur? How surprised do you think ShadowClan would be if your apprentice fought like a RiverClan cat?”

Stormfur actually shook with laughter at that, Lionpaw though liked the idea. He wanted to know how to fight in a way that would surprise his enemies. “Stormfur you have to show me!”

“Alright, alright,” Stormfur got to his paws, “good luck with that shrew Jaypaw.” He dipped his head to Brightheart, “thank you.”

Brightheart looked at him, confused, “why me though?”

Stormfur shrugged his shoulders, “you’re a senior ThunderClan warrior?”

“Why not ask Brambleclaw though?”

Stormfur flattened his ears and glanced at Lionpaw, “he’s got his paws full with Berrypaw.”

Jaypaw gave Lionpaw a look, he missed because Lionpaw had moved but it was still pretty close, and it was the one he gave his siblings when someone lied.

Lionpaw figured that Stormfur just didn’t want to tell their parents he didn’t think he could train their son, “Stormfur, come on, please?”

“Alright, alright, I’m coming,” he flicked his tail over Lionpaw’s ears, “and hush or you’ll scare your brother’s shrew off.”

-

The next quarter moon Lionpaw spends a lot more of his time learning how to swim. And he loves it. He can feel himself getting stronger at it, better. He wants to be as good as Stormfur who slips through the water like a fish as he teaches Lionpaw.

But more than that, Lionpaw can feel himself getting stronger. He thinks he could probably beat Berrypaw for sheer strength now, moving through the water took a lot of strength. And learning how to fight in the water without losing your balance or getting water up your nose was a steep learning curve but a rewarding one.

Occasionally he and Jaypaw train together, mostly for hunting practice though, as Brightheart teaches all three of them how to stalk prey. Lionpaw thinks it helps Jaypaw to hear her correct Stormfur and know that even warriors got it wrong. It was kind of like having two mentors.

Stormfur had offered swimming lessons to Brightheart and Jaypaw, and they were considering them, Jaypaw seemed interested and Lionpaw wonders if his brother worries about accidentally stumbling into the water.

In fact today they’d met on the bank of the lake, Lionpaw shaking the water out of his coat as they plan to attempt to stalk the voles that are found around her.

Jaypaw’s facing the water, his ears angling as he listens, “there’s some further down the shore,” he nods in the direction, and Stormfur and Brightheart have learned to not question him. Lionpaw feels a rush of pride, he lets Jaypaw take the lead.

Brightheart and Stormfur stop to watch them, Lionpaw moves closer to the water to help disguise the water dripping off his fur.

Jaypaw flicks his tail at him and he freezes, watching his brother, breath held, was he about to make a successful catch?

Jaypaw crouches exactly as Brightheart had taught them, Lionpaw fights against his own excitement to hold absolutely still as he watches his brother.

The sounds of something moving through the undergrowth nearby makes his ears prick and he prays to StarClan the vole doesn’t hear it. But by the way Jaypaw clumsily leaps forward it had.

“Mouse-dung!” he sits up, wiping sand off his muzzle and looks to the bushes, “Berrypaw!”

Lionpaw isn’t even surprised when the cream tom jumps out, though he apparently is, “what are you two doing here?”

“Hunting voles,” Lionpaw meows, and if Berrypaw makes one comment at Jaypaw Lionpaw will shred his ears.

Berrypaw pads further out and sniffs, “missed it did you?” Lionpaw growls softly in his throat, and the only thing that stops him is Brambleclaw padding out. His father takes in the scene and looks to Brightheart and Stormfur.

“What happened?”

“Jaypaw was stalking a vole,” Brightheart reported, she was looking at his brother was such disappointment, Lionpaw could only imagine how she felt, watching her apprentice’s first chance at catching prey ruined by a Clanmate, “Berrypaw startled it though and he couldn’t catch it before it ran off.”

Lionpaw pads up to the hole the vole ran into, he peers in, could he… his paws were wide but if he could make them fit that technique Stormfur had showed him… “Jaypaw get behind me,” he murmurs, “and if I flings something and it doesn’t sound like a rock, kill it.”

Jaypaw nods and Lionpaw looks over, Berrypaw is sitting by their father and shrugs his shoulders. “It was an accident.”

“You should be more careful when walking around Berrypaw, you never know when a Clanmate is hunting or you might find prey yourself.”

“His crouch was perfect too Brambleclaw,” Stormfur speaks up, “he would’ve had it for sure.” The certainty in his voice warms Lionpaw, “they’re both turning into expert hunters.”

As he speaks Lionpaw strikes out, like he was fishing, the way Stormfur taught him. He thinks the vole actually bites him as he strikes it, but then it’s sent flying out of the nook. Jaypaw doesn’t even let it hit the ground, his head snaps and so do his jaws and vole squeals as he kills it.

Berrypaw’s jaw hangs open, while the three warriors manage to look more put together in their shock it’s obvious they’re equally surprised. Jaypaw also looks surprised and drops his kill, “I didn’t think that would work.”

Lionpaw examines his paw but there’s no blood so maybe the vole didn’t bite him after all. He looks to Stormfur who looks at him with a mixture of awe and pride.

“L-like I was saying,” Stormfur shakes his head as he looks at the two of them, “they’re going to be credits to their Clan.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being one long scene rather than several short scenes which we'll return to next chapter but this was too much fun to write.

Lionpaw gaps as he looks around the island taking in the sheer number of cats around him, most if not all larger than him.

Stormfur and Brightheart are nearby keeping an eye on him and Jaypaw but let them just take in the gathering island. Lionpaw leaves his tail on his brother’s shoulders as he moves around, in a crowd his large it can be easy for small sounds to get drowned out and he figures if Jaypaw doesn’t like it he can toss his tail off.

But his brother stands there with his ears flicking madly as he listens all the while he makes no move to chase Lionpaw away from him. Hollypaw stood beside him, her mouth hanging open and green eyes wide with shock.

“Sure something huh?” Stormfur asks with a soft purr, “need me to start pointing out cats?”

“Could you?” Lionpaw wants to know who everyone is.

“Jaypaw!” Brightheart calls to him, “come with me would you?”

Jaypaw shrugs and heads after her, while Leafpool stops beside Hollypaw, “come on I’ll go introduce you to the other medicine cats.”

Stormfur lets him say goodbye to his siblings before looking over the crowd, “let’s see, who is here tonight.” He scans the crowd a moment before crouching down, “climb on my shoulders.”

Lionpaw doesn’t hesitate, scrambling up on his broad shoulders to let him lift him up to see, “whoa!” There were so many cats here, “I can see everything!”

Stormfur let out a rumbling laugh, “I bet you can. Alright, see that black tom over there, clearly WindClan?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s Crowfeather, the one who came with us on the great journey.” Stormfur lets him look a moment, Lionpaw thinks he looked harsh, even from this distance, though the brown apprentice next to him was pretty, “and over there, where Leafpool is, that’s Mothwing, the RiverClan medicine cat.”

“She’s pretty,” Lionpaw remarks and Stormfur laughs again.

“She’s your aunt you know, if you want to say hi I can introduce you.” He looks around, Lionpaw laughing as he was sort of tossed with Stormfur’s head movement, “there’s Ashfoot, the WindClan deputy.”

“Who is she talking to?”

“Tallpoppy, she’s a ShadowClan queen, and Dawnflower from RiverClan.” Stormfur answers easily, Lionpaw tries to remember all the names.

“Where’s Russetfur?”

“She’s the red she-cat sitting under the Great Oak with your father.”

Lionpaw looks around, “and where’s Mistyfoot?” He should at least know the deputies of each Clan.

“I’m wondering that myself,” Stormfur stands up which jostles him but Lionpaw stays on his shoulders easily enough.

“I’m right here Stormfur, you were rather easy to pick out of the crowd this gathering.”

Stormfur turns his head and Lionpaw comes almost face to face with a sleek silver she-cat. Beside her is a tortoiseshell she-cat and a pair of mottled grey apprentices.

“Mistyfoot, Mosspelt,” Stormfur purrs, “this is Lionpaw, my apprentice.”

Mistyfoot and Mosspelt’s eyes light up and Lionpaw wonders for a moment if there’s more to that then he knows. He slips down of Stormfur’s back to greet them properly, “hello!”

Mistyfoot touches nose with him, “you have Sandstorm’s eyes,” she remarks with fond purr, “is your training going well?”

Lionpaw dips his head in thanks and as a yes, “Stormfur’s teaching me a lot, he’s a great mentor.”

“I always knew he would be,” Mosspelt replies and Lionpaw watches his mentor duck his head in embarrassment, “he always had the patience.” She turns to Lionpaw, “these our Mistyfoot and my apprentices, Pebblepaw and Dapplepaw.”

“Hello!” Pebblepaw’s reply is bright and chipper and Lionpaw is struck by how friendly the tom seems to be. Dapplepaw is more subdued but no less kind when she greets him.

“Hi,” he shuffles his paws a little and Pebblepaw flicks his tail for him to come closer.

“Ah don’t let my size put you off, I’m old for an apprentice I just haven’t been made a warrior ‘cause Mosspelt likes me too much.”

“You haven’t been made a warrior because you can’t stop getting into trouble,” Mosspelt’s voice is firm but fond, “I hope Lionpaw isn’t any trouble.”

Stormfur laughs at that, “he’s got spirit but he’s not trouble.” Lionpaw gives his mentor a grateful look and is startled by the fondness in Stormfur’s gaze, “I couldn’t ask for a better apprentice.”

“I’m glad Firestar gave him to you,” Mistyfoot replies and Lionpaw nods in agreement.

Dapplepaw laughs and pokes him, “it’s good to get along with your mentor huh?”

“Do you and Mistyfoot not get along?” he asks curiously, his attention pulls away from the older cats to the other apprentices.

“Oh we do, she’s strict but she means well.” Dapplepaw glances at Pebblepaw, “’course I might be made a warrior before this one.”

Pebblepaw sticks his tongue out, “I’ll get to be a warrior someday, Leopardstar can only postpone it for so long.”

Dapplepaw leans over to Lionpaw, “you’ll be a warrior first I reckon, the way he gets into trouble.”

“Oh now she’s challenged me, mark my words Lionpaw I’ll be a warrior by next gathering.”

“Ha!” Dapplepaw scoffs and then pauses, “sorry, we haven’t let you talk much have we?”

Lionpaw shrugs his shoulders, “it’s alright, I’m still kind of overwhelmed.”

Dapplepaw and Pebblepaw nod sympathetically and Lionpaw’s grateful they understand.

“Oh hey, Brightheart’s here!” Pebblepaw sits up and Lionpaw turns to spot his Clanmate about a two foxlengths away where she’s speaking with Leafpool and Mothwing while Hollypaw, Jaypaw and its Willowpaw right? Mothwing’s apprentice are chatting.

“I haven’t seen her at a gathering before,” Dapplepaw mused, and looked at Pouncepaw, “how did you see her?”

“I think she was here for Whitewing’s first gathering as a warrior,” Pebblepaw replies.

“Is there a problem?” Lionpaw asks and they both start slightly and look guilty.

“No, we’re just surprised,” Dapplepaw assures him, “it’s good to see her though.”

“Dapplepaw thinks she’s one of the bravest Warriors in the Clans,” Pebblepaw shrugs, “I mean of ThunderClan cats she’s brave but of your Clanmates, oh you could not catch enough fish to get me to fight Brambleclaw or Dustpelt.”

“She’s here with Jaypaw, my brother, her apprentice.” Lionpaw nods to him and the older apprentices get quiet to listen to him, “he’s the blue one kind of sulking. The black she-cat’s my sister Hollypaw.”

“Well she and Willowpaw have hit it off,” Pebblepaw raises his voice, “hey Jaypaw, come on over!”

Lionpaw sees his brother start and freezes. Jaypaw can’t see he’s with Pebblepaw nor does he know who just called his name but he won’t thank Lionpaw for telling them he’s blind.

Brightheart, thankfully, nudges him their way. Jaypaw pads on over with his head cocked and manages to dodge Mistyfoot and Mosspelt.

“So you’re Brightheart’s apprentice,” Pebblepaw greets him, “Lionpaw was telling us about you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Dapplepaw shoved Pebblepaw, “I’m Dapplepaw and the loudmouth over here is Pebblepaw.”

“Hey Jaypaw,” Lionpaw says to let his brother know where he’s sitting. Jaypaw nods to him, ears flattened slightly.

“Thanks. It’s quieter over her.” Lionpaw blinks sympathetically while Jaypaw sits down.

“You’re big for an apprentice aren’t you?” he asks, blunt as ever and Pebblepaw laughs.

“Oh I like this one, I think we scared your poor brother mute with our chattering.”

“You did not!” Lionpaw defends himself hotly, “I just couldn’t get a word in!”

Dapplepaw laughs and Pebblepaw flicks his whiskers. Jaypaw twitches his ears and Lionpaw’s glad to see he looks like he’s enjoying himself more.

“I mean I know Berrypaw and his littermates are getting big but-“

“See I’m not the oldest apprentice!” Pebblepaw cuts in but Dapplepaw whacks him with her paw.

“You’re older than them and Jaypaw was talking.”

Jaypaw turns towards Lionpaw who shrugs slightly.

“Oh believe me, he’s the Clan fool but we love him anyway,” Dapplepaw shoves Pebblepaw, “now shut up. How has your training been going? Are you enjoying your first gathering?”

“It’s been good, hunting’s hard but I think I’m getting it.”

“Jaypaw you’re better at hunting than I am.”

“That’s because you’ve got huge paws and step heavy and everything hears you.”

Pebblepaw and Dapplepaw laugh and Lionpaw flattens his ears.

“He’s getting better, there’s no need to be mean to your brother Jaypaw,” Stormfur defends him and Lionpaw’s glad to have the focus shift. “Mistyfoot, Mosspelt, that’s Jaypaw. He’s Lionpaw’s brother and Brightheart’s apprentice.”

Jaypaw nods to them, Lionpaw can see them realize what he doesn’t think Dapplepaw and Pebblepaw have. The shadows Jaypaw’s sitting in kind of hide his eyes and they’re smaller than the RiverClan apprentices so as long as they’re looking up it could be hard to tell that Jaypaw’s blind.

He sees Jaypaw bristle but Stormfur continues, “Brightheart and I are very proud they’re shaping up to be an excellent pair of apprentices.”

Mistyfoot watches him a moment longer and then nods, “that’s good to hear. It’s always nice to hear ThunderClan is doing well.”

Jaypaw nods once and they turn back to the others.

“Yeah so Stormfur thinks I’m the best apprentice so training’s been great.” Lionpaw shakes his head, “he’s really patient and that’s good ‘cause Jaypaw’s right I do step too hard.”

“So does Berrypaw in your defense,” Jaypaw points out idly.

“Berrypaw does everything too loud.”

“You’re telling me.”

Dapplepaw is studying Jaypaw now and Lionpaw realizes with a start that Pebblepaw’s known the entire time that Jaypaw’s blind by the way he gently nudges his companion and nods.

“ShadowClan must hate you,” he comments and Lionpaw’s confused before he realizes the comment isn’t directed at him.

“Why’s that?” Jaypaw angles his ears and Pebblepaw huffs.

“You seem like you hear everything. ShadowClan’s all about stealth I bet they’ll never get the drop on you. That’ll really twist their tails.”

“Maybe you’d hear something if you closed your mouth once in a while,” Dapplepaw teases which Pebblepaw just shrugs off.

“I just wanted to say that ‘cause StarClan knows I’d love to see them knocked down a branch or two,” Pebblepaw’s eyes light up and Jaypaw seems confused but not upset by the tom’s odd compliment.

“’course Lionpaw looks like he could just shove some of them over,” Dapplepaw pokes his shoulder, “what are they feeding you over in ThunderClan?”

“Any ShadowClan apprentice we can catch,” Jaypaw quips and that sends Pebblepaw into a fit of laughter.

“Oh please come to the next gathering, usually it’s just me and Dapplepaw over here, you two are fantastic.”

Lionpaw looks to Dapplepaw and says, “probably just so he can brag about his new warrior name.”

“No no I mean it,” Pebblepaw moves over to make room for them, “plus you have a great view of the Great Oak from here.”

“Thanks.” Jaypaw states flatly and Dapplepaw looks embarrassed but Pebblepaw laughs.

“See, I like him.”

A loud call brings silence to the gathering and pulls their attention to the Great Oak.

Pebblepaw crouches down to talk to Jaypaw quietly, “the one speaking is Blackstar. He’s big but a bit smaller than Brambleclaw and has a narrower body. He just has longer legs.”

Jaypaw nods thoughtfully, Lionpaw looks to see that now that Pebblepaw’s mentioned it Blackstar does have kind of long legs.

He can also see that Mistyfoot and Stormfur have tensed. Mistyfoot murmurs a soft word to Mosspelt and Stormfur before slipping away to the foot of the tree. Stormfur moves over to join them, with Mosspelt on his other side gently pressing against him. Lionpaw looks up at Stormfur and gently nudges him.

Stormfur looks down at him and Lionpaw watches his mentor pull himself to his full height, eyes trained on Blackstar as he continues to speak. Lionpaw isn’t paying much attention to what he says though he hears Jaypaw hiss and ThunderClan grumble at his remarks. He’s just struck by how afraid Stormfur looks of the ShadowClan leader.

“He can’t touch you Stormfur,” Mosspelt assures him gently. “Not at the Gathering and never again.” The tortoiseshell gives a nasty look at him the kind Lionpaw’s seen leveled by Daisy and Ferncloud at anyone who speaks badly about Jaypaw and understands a bit better now.

Pebblepaw and Dapplepaw are talking with Jaypaw softly, Lionpaw hears him comment, “I think Blackstar’s confused about what side of the border his warriors have been hunting on if he thinks that’s prey rich.”

Lionpaw tries to pay attention and it’s easier once Blackstar’s done and Stormfur relaxes but he’s distracted by Jaypaw and Pebblepaw’s muttering, it seems the friendly RiverClan tom has earned his brother’s respect and Dapplepaw seemed well on her way to earning it as well.

Jaypaw’s head snaps up first and the other three apprentices follow his sightless gaze to the edge of the island. The cats near the tree bridge snarl and hiss and a wave of alarm sweeps through the Gathering. Stormfur immediately places himself between the apprentices and the tree bridge in a fighting crouch. Lionpaw rears onto his back legs to peer over Stormfur and see what was going on. He has his answer a heartbeat later when Firestar speaks.

“Stop!” he orders, “Graystripe?”


	3. Chapter 3

Lionpaw can feel the stunned silence in his bones and now he can see the ragged looking gray tom standing before them all.

There’s a sudden surge as ThunderClan moves to greet their lost warrior but not only ThunderClan. Lionpaw can pick out other voices as Graystripe and Firestar press their foreheads together and say something softly before Lionpaw can barely see them around his Clanmates.

“Graystripe, welcome back!” He hears Mistyfoot’s voice. He leaves Jaypaw with Pebblepaw and Dapplepaw to follow Stormfur as he weaves through the cats.

“Graystripe!” he hears warm voices even a few ShadowClan cats seem happy to see him. Stormfur halts next to Mistyfoot and after a heartbeat seems to notice Lionpaw followed him. He blinks at Lionpaw but looks too stunned to speak and Lionpaw has no idea what to say either.

Graystripe looks exhausted as he looks over all the cats around him but he stumbles to Stormfur with a rumbling purr. Stormfur pressed his muzzle into his father’s fur and purrs so loud Lionpaw thinks he can feel it in his paws.

Brambleclaw comes up beside him and Lionpaw presses against his father who ducks his head to lick his forehead.

“Are all gatherings like this?” He asks Brambleclaw and his father purrs softly.

“No they’re not all this exciting.” He rests his tail on his shoulders, “where’s your siblings?”

“Hollypaw should be with Leafpool and Jaypaw is-“

“Right here,” he squeezes his way out of the crowd to join them, “Pebblepaw and Dapplepaw say good-bye by the way.”

“Whoops,” Lionpaw flattens his ears embarrassedly.

“Welcome back Graystripe,” Onestar sounds the warmest Lionpaw’s ever heard him from his perch in The Great Oak.

Graystripe pauses and sort of takes in that Onestar is leader before he nods, “thank you.” He sways on his feet and rests his tail against the tabby she-cat next to him. “It’s alright Millie.”

Hollypaw pops out of the crowd to join them as more cats crowd around Graystripe, “this doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?” Lionpaw asks curiously, he’s using Brambleclaw and Stormfur to keep himself from getting jostled by the crowd.

“Shouldn’t they be upset ThunderClan has an extra warrior?” Hollypaw’s green eyes are wide and worried, “they’re all acting like he’s their Clanmate.”

Lionpaw hesitates and Jaypaw snorts.

“You were making friends with Willowpaw like she’s not in RiverClan Hollypaw. Don’t worry so much, the warrior code isn’t going to fall just ‘cause everyone’s happy that Graystripe didn’t die.”

Lionpaw thinks he sees his father’s ear flick but he isn’t sure how much attention Brambleclaw is paying. He and Firestar are rounding up ThunderClan to head home.

“But what about Brambleclaw?” Hollypaw insists and Lionpaw chills. “We sat vigil for a cat who wasn’t dead! Who should be deputy?”

Lionpaw hopes he doesn’t have to choose between his mentor and his father.

-

The trip back to camp is quick and quiet, Lionpaw sticks to Stormfur’s heels the entire trip.

Graystripe walks with Firestar leaning on him occasionally while his new mate, Millie, walks with Sandstorm. Lionpaw glances up at Stormfur, what would it be like if Brambleclaw came back from the dead with a mate other than Squirrelflight?

Stormfur shakes his head about the time they cross back into ThunderClan territory and focuses, “how did you like the Gathering Lionpaw?”

“It was fun!” He gives a slight bounce and Stormfur purrs softly.

“I’m glad to hear it,” he looks to where his father walks with Firestar, “it was an unusual one for sure. You can sleep in tomorrow morning, we’ll-“

“I can take Lionpaw out if you want,” Brightheart offers. “Jaypaw and I were going to do some battle training. I’ll have Dustpelt bring Hazelpaw too.”

Stormfur hesitates and then nods, “thank you Brightheart.” Lionpaw’s heart sinks, he loves training with Stormfur but he nods.

Stormfur rests his tail on his shoulders before he whisks it away and Lionpaw relaxs. He’d want time to spend with Brambleclaw too if he’d thought his dad was dead.

“I’ll do my best!” he promises Stormfur who simply huffs.

“You never do any less Lionpaw.”

Lionpaw’s exhaustion fades in place of warmth, Firestar gave him the best mentor.

The arrival back to camp is chaos as the Clan celebrates Graystripe’s return. He hears Jaypaw tell Hollypaw that Millie has an infected wound but he’s starting to fall asleep on his paws. He stumbles back to the den to sleep and he might be grateful he falls asleep before the speculation over who would be deputy starts.

-

It’s midmorning when Lionpaw wakes, his nose warmed by a sunbeam coming through the roof of the den. He blinks up at it and makes a note to fix that hole before it rains and slips out of the den.

Camp has gone back to normal, just with Graystripe resting in the middle of camp. He’s curled up with Firestar and sharing tongues so Lionpaw stays near the den.

“Enjoy sleeping in?” He flicks his ear at the sound of Brook’s voice.

“Yeah.” He looks to her, “is Stormfur around?”

Brook blinks at him and sits down, “he’s still sleeping.” She curls her tail around her paws and looks to where Graystripe is. “Are you worried?”

“A bit?” He shrugs his shoulders, “Firestar will figure out who should be deputy. I just…” he flattens his ears, “he won’t be mad at me if it’s Brambleclaw will he?”

“Will you be mad at him if Firestar makes Graystripe deputy?”

“No.” Lionpaw replies firmly and Brook nods.

“Brambleclaw is one of Stormfur’s closest friends, he loves your parents deeply Lionpaw.” She touches her nose to his ear, “he’s simply happy to have his father home. Come what may he’ll always be proud to be your mentor.”

Lionpaw purrs at that, “I love being his apprentice, he’s so patient and I love learning all the RiverClan fighting moves too.”

Brook’s laugh is soft, “I’m glad to hear it. He worries about how he’s training you a lot.”

Lionpaw shakes his head, “he’s the best mentor!”

Brook looks pleased by his praise of her mate and looks to Graystripe. “I must admit, I don’t know much about him. He was gone by the time I joined the Clan and Stormfur rarely spoke of him other than that he loved his father and he’d done his best to parent him from ThunderClan.”

“Graystripe is the one that found Firestar when he was just a kittypet,” Lionpaw meows, eager to repeat the stories he’s heard, “they were best friends and always in trouble together. His first mate was Silverstream and she was Stormfur’s mother.” He didn’t know much about that, the Clan didn’t talk about that much when they spoke about Graystripe. “He was loyal and kind and funny and a great warrior. The Clans were happy to see him at the gathering.”

Brook nods and flattens her ears, “he sounds like quite the cat.”

Lionpaw purrs softly, “even Mousefur likes him. You heard her last night didn’t you?” Teasing Graystripe about taking a mate outside the Clan was oddly accepting for her.

Brook nods slowly and Lionpaw wonders if he misspoke.

Fortunately Brightheart comes out of the Warrior’s Den and spots them.

“Have you eaten yet Lionpaw?”

He hesitates, “no?”

“You can eat, Cinderpaw and Honeypaw fed the elders and queens this morning.” She flicks her tail, “Stormfur will be out shortly, he wanted to talk to you before training.”

Lionpaw nods, “okay Brightheart!”

He bounds over to the freshkill pile and snags a plump robin and drags it from the pile to start plucking the feathers and eat.

His eyes drift to Graystripe and Firestar occasionally but otherwise he simply keeps eating and keeps his head down. He can’t hear what they’re saying, he’d need Jaypaw’s ears for that.

He can hear Stormfur come up behind him though and looks up from his robin to wash the feathers off his muzzle as he greets his mentor.

“Good morning!”

“Hey Lionpaw,” he touches his nose to his head, “be good for Brightheart today.”

Lionpaw ducked his head, “fine, I won’t sneak off to hunt foxes.”

Stormfur’s purr is warm and Lionpaw rumbles as well as he tears off a final bite of his robin.

“Alright you’ve learned your lesson.” He gently nudged him, “now come with me for a bit.”

Lionpaw sees him signal to Brook before the three of them head to Graystripe and Firestar.

“Stormfur?” Graystripe looks surprised, “you’re with ThunderClan now?”

“It’s a long story,” Stormfur’s ears flatten slightly but he rests his tail on Lionpaw, “but yes. This is my apprentice, Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight’s son Lionpaw.”

Lionpaw has never felt small, the biggest of his siblings, but he does now, “hello.” This is Graystripe, a hero of legends.

And he looks thrilled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Lionpaw.” He nudges Firestar, “so Fire and Tiger came together huh.”

Firestar laughs and gently headbutts Graystripe’s shoulder, “hush.” He gives Lionpaw a fond look, “he and his siblings are already a pawful.”

“He’s not too much trouble,” Stormfur corrects gently, “he’s eager to learn and is shaping into an excellent fighter.”

Lionpaw sits down and curls his tail around his paws, “Welcome back Graystripe.”

“Thank you,” he shakes his head, “it so weird to think our kits are having kits.” He looks to Stormfur, “you aren’t about to introduce me to your kits are you?”

Stormfur hesitates, “not kits but this is Brook.” He signals to his mate.

Lionpaw senses it’s time for him to go, “I think Brightheart wants me.”

Stormfur pauses and nods, “alright. When you get back you can tell us all about your training.”

Lionpaw jumps to his paws to drop into a fighting crouch, “might show you some things too.”

Stormfur bats at him with one paw, “get going Lionpaw. Save your energy for training.”

Lionpaw lets his mentor push him, darting forward to press his muzzle against Stormfur’s side before he heads to where Brightheart is waiting with Jaypaw, Dustpelt and Hazelpaw.

-

“How do your muscles not ache?” Hazelpaw asks as they make their way back, Lionpaw is the only one of the appretices not dragging his paws.

“Stormfur trains me really hard,” he answers, it’s not a lie but he’s not sure he should admit that Stormfur is teaching him to swim. Dustpelt had made a comment during training that Lionpaw fought like a RiverClan cat. Lionpaw thought he was just bitter that he had sent Hazelpaw sprawling with a trick Stormfur taught him.

“It’s cool how you do that tracking thing Jaypaw,” Hazelpaw continue, Lionpaw’s brother grunts.

“Like in battle I have trouble keeping track of everyone and I can see, but you could always figure out where we were.”

Dustpelt speaks now, “it an interesting skill to have.”

Lionpaw sees Brightheart’s hackles raise slightly for a heartbeat before she flattens them, “Jaypaw learns in a different way than most apprentices, it helps him fight if he can track those battling near him.”

Jaypaw’s ears flick, Lionpaw remembers how he’d struggled at first, overwhelmed by how quickly battle moved and how his senses no longer gave him accurate information. Brightheart had figured out how to teach him, by having him track Lionpaw as he fought Stormfur while Jaypaw observed, essentially training his observation skills for battle. Lionpaw thought he’d done well against Hazelpaw today but by his brother’s body language he knew Jaypaw was still being hard on himself.

“Did you and Stormfur teach Lionpaw those tricks too?” Dustpelt asks, “he does the same thing as Jaypaw I noticed, he sometimes tracked Hazelpaw by pawstep.”

Brightheart shrugs her shoulders, “Stormfur’s done most of Lionpaw’s battle training, he only asks me for help rarely.” Mostly when he didn’t know a ThunderClan battle move.

“Lionpaw?” Dustpelt looks to him.

“Uh,” he stumbles for words, “yes?”

“Convincing,” Jaypaw mutters and Lionpaw shoots a glare at him.

“Or has he been teaching you to fight in water?” Dustpelt asks and Lionpaw knows he’s busted. That was how he’d learned to track like that, feeling the ripples in the water as Stormfur moved by him in the lake and then listening to Jaypaw talk about feeling vibrations through his paws and just kind of putting them together.

“Wait has he?” Hazelpaw turns to look at Lionpaw, “that’s so cool!”

“That’s how RiverClan fights,” Dustpelt corrects his apprentice and Lionpaw flattens his ears.

He stares up at Dustpelt, “is there something wrong with how he’s teaching me to fight?” He flicks his tail, “I did every ThunderClan move correctly.” He knew he had, he trained until his muscles ached and given how much swimming Stormfur made him do that took a long time. He liked to think he would fight like a ThunderClan cat with a RiverClan flare.

“He’s doing just fine Dustpelt,” Brightheart cuts in firmly, “Lionpaw and Jaypaw are shaping into strong warriors.”

Dustpelt grunts and keeps walking, Lionpaw hopes Stormfur wasn’t about to get in trouble.

-

He goes immediately to Stormfur where he was sitting with Graystripe and Millie and sat down.

Stormfur turns to him, “hey Lionpaw.” He sees Millie shrink slightly away from him and waves his tail in greeting.

“Dustpelt didn’t like how I fought but I think he’s just made I beat Hazelpaw.” Lionpaw huffs, “she dodged one of my attacks and I tripped her.” He demonstrates the move as Stormfur taught him, his mentor nods.

“Well done!” Lionpaw lifts his head at Stormfur’s praise, Stormfur looks so proud of him.

“And we can do some hunting training tomorrow just us,” he promises, Lionpaw purrs warmly.

Millie is watching him carefully, he’s barely spoken to her, “Hi! I’m Lionpaw, you probably met my sister Hollypaw, she’s Leafpool’s apprentice.”

Graystripe nods and rests his tail against Millie’s shoulder. The tabby she-cat relaxes and nods as well.

“Yes she helped with treating my paw.” Lionpaw glances to the wound and cringes slightly, that must be the infected wound Jaypaw smelled.

“You can go spend time with your siblings Lionpaw, you don’t have to stay here.” Stormfur tells him, Lionpaw glances over to the apprentice den and flattens his ears.

“Berrypaw’s over there.” He honestly expects Jaypaw to come join them any heartbeat, his brother looks fed up where he’s trying to eat while Berrypaw talks to Honeypaw and Poppypaw.

Stormfur laughs softly, “alright but be sure to eat at some point.”

“Yes, Stormfur!”

-

Lionpaw wakes from a dream of a strange forest, one dark with no stars to find Jaypaw’s nest is empty. He rolls to his paws and sticks his head out of the den.

He doesn’t see Jaypaw anywhere but his nest is warm so he hasn’t been gone long.

He pushes his way out of the den and starts for the tunnel.

“Lionpaw?” Sorreltail sounds amused as she peers down the tunnel, “wondering when you’d get here.”

Lionpaw flattens his ears and trots over to the warrior, “I guess Jaypaw did head out?”

“He went for a walk a little bit ago.” Sorreltail nods her head towards the lake, “same direction Hollypaw went before him.”

Lionpaw huffs, “no wonder I couldn’t sleep.” Sorreltail twitches her whiskers in amusement.

“Don’t stay out too late, you’ve all got training tomorrow.” She warns him fondly, Lionpaw waves his tail as he heads after his siblings.

“We won’t!”

It doesn’t take long to reach the lake shore, he can hear their voices.

“How do you know you’re meant to be a warrior?” Hollypaw asks. Lionpaw isn’t used to the desperation in her voice.

“Hollypaw?” he asks as he pads out to the shore to join them, “what’s wrong?”

“She thinks she’s not made to be a medicine cat because she thinks infected wounds are gross,” Jaypaw summarizes, Lionpaw makes a face.

“They are, I think that just means you’re reasonable.”

Hollypaw sinks her claws into the dirt, “it’s not just that.” Her green eyes are huge and pleading, “I can never remember herbs, I get everything jumbled but Jaypaw’s so good at it, but I like fighting and hunting.”

Lionpaw flattens his ears, “Jaypaw’s always been the smart one.” His brother huffs and Lionpaw continues, “have you talked to Leafpool about it?”

Hollypaw shakes her head and mutters miserably, “she really wants me to be a medicine cat.”

“Then tell her!” Lionpaw rolls his eyes, “you’re overthinking Hollypaw, that’s what mentors are for!” He glances to Jaypaw and an idea slowly worms his way into his mind, “like how I wouldn’t know a bunch of stuff Stormfur’s taught me.”

“Like what?” Hollypaw ask and Lionpaw takes a flying leap into the lake. Jaypaw and Hollypaw both yowl in surprise and Lionpaw cackles as he paddles through the water.

“He taught you to swim?” Hollypaw sounds scandalized, hesitating by the edge of the water, while Jaypaw touches it with one paw and then shakes it off.

Lionpaw is still laughing as he comes out of the water and shakes off, Hollypaw mewls as he splatters her with water.

“Your face… Oh StarClan.”

“You’re a ThunderClan cat!” She insists angrily and Lionpaw’s laughter stops.

“Yeah?” He flicks his ear, “I just happen to know how to swim.”

Hollypaw’s eyes are wide with horror, Lionpaw rolls his eyes.

“Hollypaw. I’m not going to start eating fish alright? But if there’s a flood or someone’s drowning hey I know how to swim.” He hesitates and adds, “Stormfur told me Brambleclaw almost drowned during the journey to sun-drown place.”

Now Hollypaw looks worried for a very different reason but after a bit her fur settles, “I guess… it’s okay then. It feels like it’s against the warrior code.”

“What part of the code?” Lionpaw shakes his head, “you’re always so worried- is that why you’re out here?”

Hollypaw stares at her reflection in the lake, “Leafpool’s going to go to the Moonpool to ask who should be deputy.”

Jaypaw scoffs at that, “what do they know, they’re dead.”

“Jaypaw!” Hollypaw sounds scandalized and Jaypaw shrugs his shoulders.

“Look, I’m just saying, the choice is obvious.” He flicks his tail, “Brambleclaw knows the new territory, he knows how things have changed since-“

“But Graystripe never died!” Hollypaw argues, Lionpaw flattens his ears.

Jaypaw shrugs, “I mean if he’d been here then he would’ve stayed deputy. But he wasn’t and we needed a deputy.”

“Do you want Graystripe to be deputy?” Lionpaw turns to look at Hollypaw.

Her ears flatten and she looks away, “I- I think he’s supposed to be.”

Lionpaw shakes himself off again, “Leafpool and Firestar will make a decision. If you’re worried you should talk to Leafpool.” He drags his tongue over a few tufts of fur to make sure he’s not too damp still.

Hollypaw looks to Jaypaw, their brother nods.

“He’s right, surprisingly.”

“Love you too Jay.”

Jaypaw’s whiskers twitch and he flicks his tail a few time, “I’m going to be a warrior because I want to be a warrior.” His ears flatten and claws sink into the dirt, “I- Brightheart and I have talked and she thinks I can do it. I want to do it.”

Lionpaw nods, “if you want to be a medicine cat Hollypaw, Leafpool can help you.” He licks her ear, “do you wanna spend the night in the apprentice den with us?”

Hollypaw hesitates and nods, “but you’d better dry off before we get back to camp.”

Lionpaw fluffs out his fur, “I’ll do my best. I think a race back-“

“We are not sprinting into camp in the middle of the night,” Jaypaw cuts him off, “we will scare the fur off everyone and I will lose my mind if they confine us to camp. We’re walking.”

“Spoilsport,” Lionpaw mutters and Hollypaw lightly shoves him. He’s glad to see she’s looking less riled.

“I’ve missed you two,” she says and Lionpaw blinks warmly at her.

“We’re always here for you, even if you do become a medicine cat.”

Jaypaw lifts his head to the wind coming off the lake, “we’re going to be something great. Together.”

And he sounds so certain neither Hollypaw nor Lionpaw challenge him.


	4. Chapter 4

Lionpaw wakes to a gentle paw in his side, he blinks to look up at Stormfur. In the night he’d curled around Hollypaw, while Jaypaw rests his head on their sister’s flank. Berrypaw snores faintly while Mousepaw and Hazelpaw had settled against each other. Deeper in the den he knows Cinderpaw, Poppypaw and Honeypaw were sleeping in a pile not unlike him and his siblings.

“Morning,” Stormfur greets him, he gives a small nod in reply. Carefully he pulls away from his siblings to follow his mentor our of the den. He yawns and looks around, “everyone else letting their apprentices sleep in?” he asks curiously. It’s later in the morning than he thought and he stretches as Stormfur looks around.

“I guess so.” He flicks his tail, “now come on, let’s see what you can’t hunt.”

“According to Jaypaw, anything as long as its deaf or stupid,” Lionpaw quips and his mentor snorts before he manages to give Lionpaw a supportive understanding look.

“Hunting was hard for me too, I struggled with it for awhile. You just have to keep at it.” Stormfur leads the way out of camp with Lionpaw eagerly following behind him. It’s a nice morning and he falls comfortably into step with Stormfur, or would if his legs weren’t a good deal shorter than his mentor’s. Stormfur glances at him a purrs softly.

“If you’re really having trouble Lionpaw we can practice some more but let’s see how good you’ve gotten first.”

Lionpaw nods, eager to impress Stormfur. He tilts his head back to taste the air, “where are we heading?”

“I was thinking Sky Oak? This early in the morning everything should be coming to eat so it’s a good spot.” Stormfur lets out a rumbling laugh, “remind me to teach you how to look for owls, that’s a trick that’ll help you.”

“Owls?”

“I know ThunderClan used to do this in the old territories,” Stormfur explains calmly, Lionpaw always appreciates how no matter what he asks Stormfur is willing to answer patiently, “you use owls on nights where it’s hard to find prey, they have really sensitive hearing and can lead you to prey. You though, Lionpaw, could probably catch an owl once it got close enough to the ground.”

“Me?”

Stormpaw nods easily and purrs, “you’ve got big paws. Jaypaw gives you trouble about them now but you’ll grow into them and then you’ll probably be as big as your father.”

“As big as you?”

“Oh no doubt,” Stormfur nods, “some of my size comes from my RiverClan heritage but the rest of it is all Greystripe.”

“No kidding,” Lionpaw shakes his head, “I didn’t know you could be half-starved and still that big.”

Stormfur huffs at that, Lionpaw worries that he’s said the wrong thing but his mentor just lightly cuffs his ear and bounds ahead leaving Lionpaw to scramble after him.

He catches up to Stormfur as they approach the Sky Oak, his mentor crouches down in the undergrowth and Lionpaw joins him. Sure enough there’s a few particularly plump squirrels picking at the nuts around the tree. Stormfur nods to the one nearest to them and Lionpaw swallows and squares his shoulders. He can do this. He knows he can.

He creeps forward and remembered what Stormfur had taught him. Squirrels were fast so you had to be faster. He needed to kill it before it could get to the tree trunk as well.

He halts and watches the squirrel for a heartbeat before he shoots forward. Just like with Hazelpaw, he needs to be quick enough to make his strength matter. The squirrel attempts to run but his paw catches the side of its head to stun it and from there it’s over in a quick bite.

“Well done!” Stormfur pads out of the undergrowth to touch his nose to Lionpaw’s head, “that was perfect Lionpaw.”

He lifts his head to look up at him, there’s no sign of anything but pride in Stormfur’s face. Lionpaw lifts his tail and lets out an excited purr.

“Let’s see what else we can catch!”

-

He drags back two squirrels to camp, Stormfur carrying his own catch of a blackbird. Lionpaw still needed work when it came to hunting mice and voles, his paws were still to heavy but he was doing really well hunting squirrels.

“Ferncloud and her kits will probably appreciate one of those squirrels Lionpaw,” Stormfur saus after dropping his bird on the pile, “why don’t you go share it with them? I’m sure Icekit and Foxkit miss you.”

Lionpaw waves his tail behind him, he’s missed them and Ferncloud too and he loves the idea of getting to show them his catch, “Thanks Stormfur!”

His mentor nods to him and pads off to find Brooke while Lionpaw bounds to the nursery.

Ferncloud looks up as he sticks his head in, Foxkit and Icekit immediately gasp at seeing him.

“Lionpaw!” Foxkit leaps at him and Lionpaw has to twist so he doesn’t land on the squirrel.

“Geez you’d think I’d moved to WindClan or something,” he laughs and gently bats at Foxkit’s ears, “I’m just across camp if you miss me that bad.”

Icekit is sitting near her mom but looks to him with wide eyes, “it gets boring without you three to play.”

Lionpaw drags the squirrel over to Ferncloud, “well if you come by before bed I can wrestle with you or something.”

“Teach us battle moves!” Foxkit drops into a crouch to swat at his tail, Lionpaw drops into one and gently paws the other tom’s muzzle.

“You really wanna learn battle moves?” he asks, tail waving with the thought unfolding in his mind. Icekit’s eyes widen as she seems to realize what’s about to happen to her brother.

“Yes, yes!”

Lionpaw leaps at Foxkit and gently bowls him over, it’s not hard with his larger size and sits on him to pin him down. Foxkit lets out a surprised yowl and tries to slip loose but Lionpaw is big enough to hold him down. He waits a heartbeat and then lets him go.

“That was mean Lionpaw,” Foxkit lashes his tail but he doesn’t seem like he can stay angry long and attempts to bowl Lionpaw over. They tussle for a bit, Lionpaw lets the smaller tom get a few blows in, they lack aim or strength but Foxkit is trying.

Ferncloud watches them play with a fond expression before she finally calls them over, “that’s enough Foxkit, your mentor will teach you how to fight.”

Foxkit joins his mother and sister and Lionpaw trots up after him to snag some of the squirrel as well.

“Yeah, once you’re an apprentice your mentor’ll teach you everything but if you need help I can practice with you,” Lionpaw promises, “me or Jaypaw.” His brother, for all his gruff, had loved the two kits.

Ferncloud looks to Lionpaw curiously, “how is his training going?”

“Good!” Lionpaw sits up excitedly, “Brightheart keeps working with him and she’s coming up with all sorts of ideas for moves for him.” It made Lionpaw’s headspin but his brother seemed to get it and hey, Lionpaw got it when he trained with his brother and could see his brother doing the moves, “Stormfur says he’s probably never going to be quite as strong as me or Brambleclaw but he’s really fast and got a sharp mind at that can be even more dangerous.” He twitches his ears, “I think he was trying to tell me not to rely just on my strength though.”

“But you’re so strong!” Foxkit stares at him with wide eyes, Lionpaw blinks at him.

“Yeah but there’s more to being a warrior than that.” Stormfur’s taught him that. He wants to be the cat his mentor is someday. Patient, certain, strong but more than that, there for his Clanmates. He wants an apprentice that feels about him the way he feels about Stormfur. The warm bond between the two of them is very dear to Lionpaw.

He hopes Foxkit and Icekit get that. He plays with the kits for awhile longer and lets Ferncloud fuss over him, it’s nice to have this.

And then they hear Firestar’s voice. He leads the way out, moving to stand at Stormfur’s side as they look up at the Clan leader.

“Is this about the deputy?” He asks, Stormfur shakes his head.

Firestar looks over the Clan and speaks, “it takes great courage to admit that you have made a mistake.” He flicks his tail and Hollypaw steps forward, legs shaking as he looks up at Firestar but he blinks warmly down at her. Lionpaw longs to run to his sister’s side, he sinks his claws into the ground to keep himself where he is.

“Hollypaw, you wish to turn from the path of a medicine cat to the path of a warrior?”

He can hear the breath his sister takes, “yes.”

Firestar nods and scans the crowd, “Brackenfur.” The golden-brown tom looks surprised but Hollypaw looks delighted by Firestar’s choice in mentor. “You have shown level-headedness and dependability and mentored Whitewing into an excellent warrior. I have no doubt you’ll be an excellent mentor for Hollypaw.”

The tom dips his head and steps forward to touch noses with Hollypaw, Lionpaw wiggles slightly, Brackenfur was an excellent choice for his sister. He would be the perfect match for her habit of overthinking.

His sister’s name bursts from his mouth before he can think about it, and Stormfur picks up the call, along with Jaypaw, Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw before the Clan joins in. He see Leafpool calling Hollypaw’s name but there’s a grief in her eyes. Lionpaw leans into Stormfur who gently shoves him.

-

Lionpaw lays sprawled by the apprentice den, trying to ignore Berrypaw’s voice but it grates on his ears. He lifts his head when Brightheart pads up, Jaypaw lets out a sigh of relief and steps forward to meet his mentor.

“Yes?”

Brightheart’s tail twitches, “you, Lionpaw, and Hollypaw will be on the sun-high patrol at the ShadowClan border. You, Lionpaw,” she glances to him, “Stormfur and I will meet with Brackenfur and Hollypaw at the shoreline tomorrow.”

“What are we doing before then?” Lionpaw asks, his brother’s ears flatten slightly.

“Jaypaw and I will be doing one on one battle practice,” Brightheart replies easily, “you’ll have to ask Stormfur what you’re doing I’m afraid.”

“Okay!” He waves his tail, “have fun Jaypaw.”

Jaypaw nods and looks to Brightheart, “will we be practicing that move you came up with?”

“Yes, you seem to be struggling with it so I’d like to do a few more times and see if we can’t figure out where the problem is, it might be we need to change something about the move…”

Lionpaw gets up to leave them too it, Hollypaw is chattering with Hazelpaw and Cinderpaw while Berrypaw brags to Honeypaw and Poppypaw. It’s not until he’s heading for where Stormfur is sitting across from camp talking to Lionpaw’s parents that he realizes someone’s behind him.

“Mousepaw?” He turns to look at him in confusion, he’s barely spoken to the older apprentice, he doesn’t know him all that well, “what are you doing?”

He shrugs his shoulders, “I just thought…” his ears flatten, “I figured whatever you were doing was better than just sitting there.”

Lionpaw shrugs, “I’m just gonna ask Stormfur a question.” Mousepaw hesitates and Lionpaw’s ears twitch in sympathy.

“Can you uh…” he pauses, StarClan Jaypaw or Hollypaw would be better at this, “Foxkit!”

“What?” Mousepaw looks around, but Lionpaw shakes his head quickly.

“I promised Foxkit I’d show him some battle moves before bed, can you go play with him and Icekit until I get there, please?” Lionpaw begs, the older apprentice’s confusion melts into amusement.

“Yeah, yeah I can do that. Do you need a paw with those battle moves?”

“That would be great,” Lionpaw blinks at him appreciatively, “thanks.”

“Sure thing.”

Lionpaw watches him hurry off to the nursery before bounding up to Stormfur.

“Oh hey Lionpaw,” his mentor greets him with a warm purr and friendly nuzzle, he purrs and rubs against him before nuzzling against Brambleclaw and gently headbutting Squirrelflight’s shoulder. His father purrs and rubs against him while Squirrelflight blinks slowly at him.

“Stormfur’s been saying nothing but great things about you,” she tells him, Lionpaw looks to his mentor who blinks warmly at him.

“I know Brightheart wants some time alone with Jaypaw in the training hollow so we’re going to head to the shore early and train there,” Stormfur tells him, Lionpaw lets out a laugh.

“I came to ask you what we were doing tomorrow morning.”

Stormfur laughs softly at that and shakes his head, “great, now I’m starting to read his mind.”

“Just means Firestar gave you the right apprentice!” Lionpaw replies and Stormfur looks to Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw before back to Lionpaw.

“And gave you the right mentor.”

Lionpaw pushes his head into Squirrelflight, “I kind of gotta go, I promise Foxkit I’d show him some moves and Mousepaw offered to help-”

“Of you run then,” Stormfur nods firmly, “don’t keep your Clanmates waiting. It’s good to see you making friends with your denmates though.”

“I’ve got friends.”

“Your siblings don’t count,” Squirrelflight rebukes him gently, Lionpaw’s ears flatten and he gives his mother a dirty look.

“Now that’s hardly fair,” Brambleclaw speaks up with a twitch of his whiskers, “you were practically joined at the tail with Leafpool when you two were apprentices.” Lionpaw begins to sneak away as his parents playfully tease each other, Stormfur waves his tail and Lionpaw bounds off to meet up with Foxkit and Mousepaw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow sorry, college graduation dealt a massive hit to my writing time but here's the new chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this chapter came out massive but I'm very pleased with it so you know what?

Lionpaw leaps down to the water, letting lap at his golden paws as he bends his head to get a drink. Stormfur follows after him with a soft laugh and ducks his head to lap at the water as well.

“So, what kind of training are we doing?” Lionpaw looks to him with eagerness and Stormfur waves his tail as he seems to think.

“I don’t want to wear you out when we have a border patrol at sunhigh.” Stormfur stretches out his paws and pads onto the sand and drops there to wash his shoulder, “why don’t you go hunt something, anything you like, and then come surprise me with it.”

Lionpaw understands what Stormfur’s telling him, he wants him to perform a sneak attack.

“Got it Stormfur!” He bounds away into the undergrowth, careful to rustle it so Stormfur will hear him head one way. He pads off in the other direction to try to find a squirrel. He doesn’t want to frustrate himself trying to hunt mice and voles before having to sneak up on Stormfur.

A squirrel is caught easily enough, it’s almost as big as Icekit and Lionpaw carries it carefully, trying not to let the tail drag and give him away.

Once he’s close enough to the lakeshore he sets the squirrel down and drops to a crouch. He shoves it under a bramble patch where he can get it but a fox or something would have trouble. He slinks forward, Stormfur looks to have fallen asleep. Lionpaw doubts it though, he knows his mentor, Stormfur’s trying to lull him into a false sense of security.

He’s careful of the bracken, not a single thorn snags on his fur and pawstep by pawstep he moves towards his mentor.

He’s maybe two tail lengths away when he freezes. Underpaw he can feel a pebble shifting, he pushes it down to try to silence it. He doesn’t know how to stalk across pebbles though. If he wants to stalk closer to Stormfur he’ll need to though. Otherwise he’s going to need quite the leap to land on his mentor.

Stormfur shifts and Lionpaw lunges. It’s messy and he’s not surprised to find he’s missed.

A paw bats at his ear, “didn’t get sand up your nose, did you?”

He lifts his head to look up at Stormfur, “no,” he gets to his paws and shakes off, “when did you hear me?”

“When you reached the rocks, I heard it clatter and your breath catch,” Stormfur flicks his tail, “well done.”

“But I didn’t…”

“You got caught by unfamiliar terrain,” Stormfur shakes his head, “happens to experienced warriors too.” He lets out a purr, “I’m not going to dismiss how well you did just because you don’t know how to walk on pebbles. If I want you to know how to do that I need to teach you that.”

Lionpaw blinks gratefully at him, he knows he failed but he appreciates that Stormfur sees the good in his attempt.

“Go fetch your catch and we’ll do some stalking practice,” Stormfur instructs him, “we can work on pebbles and undergrowth.”

Lionpaw nods quickly and bounds away, “alright Stormfur!”

-

Lionpaw is in the middle of a patch of brambles, flat against the ground, when he hears his sister’s voice.

He can’t make out what she’s saying, and from between strands he can see Stormfur look away to where she and Brackenfur are coming.

“Well I hear from Cloudtail that you’re quite the natural when it comes to fighting,” Brackenfur replies calmly, “and you have a natural insight Hollypaw. We’ll work on that, it’s a useful skill to have in many situations.”

“Hello,” Stormfur greets them warmly, Lionpaw knows that Brackenfur has never questioned his mentor’s right to be in ThunderClan.

“Hello Stormfur,” Brackenfur greets him, “where is Lionpaw?”

“He’s practicing his stalking,” Stormfur has caught sight of him Lionpaw realizes, but Hollypaw hasn’t, his golden fur blending in among the brambles. She’s looking in the wrong part of the patch for him. He slips forward to pop out and bat at his sister’s side before diving back into cover.

Brackenfur lets out a startled laugh, while Hollypaw shouts his name and tries come after him.

“Excellent use of your surroundings, Lionpaw,” Stormfur praises him as he keeps the brambles between himself and his sister, “Hollypaw don’t charge directly into brambles if your prey or opponent is hiding in them.”

Hollypaw stops and glares in after him, he laughs softly and waves his tail.

Brackenfur nods, “Hollypaw, he’s using the brambles to his advantage, how so?”

“Well he blends in due to his fur,” Hollypaw muses, “probably one of the few places fur like that can blend in.”

“Hey!” Lionpaw calls from inside the bramble patch, “it’s not my fault you and Jaypaw blend into shadows and I stick out like a… like a…”

“Fish in ThunderClan’s prey pile?” Stormfur offers with an amused purr.

“Yeah, that!”

Brackenfur sounds amused, “yes, those of us with more golden colors struggle to hunt when it’s not leaf-fall. However, it’s wise to use what you can to your advantage.” He flicks his tail, “what else has Lionpaw done well Hollypaw?”

His sister thinks for several heartbeats, “the quick attack?”

“Yes, that successfully baited you into attempting to follow him and getting tangled in the brambles,” Brackenfur agrees. “Now then. How do you use this situation against him?”

Hollypaw looks to Brackenfur in confusion, “I don’t know that I can.”

“Think about it,” Brackenfur encourages her gently. “Pretend he’s an enemy warrior you need to fight.”

Lionpaw was beginning to understand where this might be going, at least he thought he was, “if she was with a patrol, they could surround me pretty easily!”

“True,” Stormfur agrees, “but let her answer.” His rebuke doesn’t sting, Lionpaw nods to his mentor.

“Oh!” Hollypaw peers in at him and then began to walk away, “bye Lionpaw.”

“Hang on!” Lionpaw crouches down to wiggle out and go after her. The moment his shoulders are out Brackenfur’s paw comes down on him and lightly pins him down.

“Well done Hollypaw,” he praises her, “Lionpaw’s pretty good at getting out of that thorn bush it seems but trying to turn it on him was a wise choice.”

Lionpaw can see that his sister hadn’t gone far before she’d dropped into a crouch, ready to land on him when he came out. She looks pleased to have come to the right answer, Brackenfur nods to her and releases Lionpaw.

Lionpaw finishes pulling himself out from the patch and shakes off to drop into a crouch facing Hollypaw. Stormfur reaches over and gently bowls him over with one paw, Lionpaw grabs his leg with his font paws and kicks at it with his back legs playfully. Stormfur huffs and shakes him off with a purr of amusement.

“Where are Brightheart and Jaypaw?” he asks Brackenfur curiously, “did they just lose track of time?”

“Probably,” Brackenfur agrees with a shrug, “they can take care of themselves.” He looks around though.

“Maybe they stopped to talk one of the patrols,” Lionpaw suggests, Brackenfur glances to him.

“How many patrols are over here?” he asks curiously, Lionpaw tilts his head.

“Brambleclaw’s got a hunting patrol over here and I think Mousepaw mentioned to me that he had a patrol over here at sun-high?” Lionpaw replies after considering a heartbeat.

Stormfur sits down to groom his paw and then drag it over his face, “then it’s entirely possible they’ve accidentally run into one of them.”

The undergrowth rustles and Jaypaw stalks forward, ears flat against his head and teeth bared. He storms past Lionpaw and Stormfur to face the ShadowClan border, his tail lashing.

Brightheart appears a heartbeat later, she looks upset but better at hiding it than Jaypaw.

“What happened?” Stormfur glances at Jaypaw and then Brightheart.

“Berrypaw played a rather… mean spirited joke on Jaypaw,” Brightheart replies carefully. Stormfur sighs and shakes his head.

“You’d have thought sneaking out of camp and losing half his tail would’ve taught him some caution or to think first,” he muses, Lionpaw huffs in amusement at that.

“I wish.”

“Are you alright Jaypaw,” Brackenfur asks, Lionpaw’s brother doesn’t respond for a heartbeat other than to flick his ear.

“I’m fine.”

“What did he do?” Lionpaw asks, his claws sinking into the dirt, “just so I know whether to put fire ants in his nest.”

Stormfur glances at him, opens him mouth, considers it, while Hollypaw shoots him a look.

“As your mentor I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Stormfur finally replies, “should you do it I will of course have to punish you, but I certainly didn’t hear you planning to do it.”

That pulls a short laugh out of Jaypaw, it’s a bitter sound and he turns his head to look at them.

“He just let me trip over a root because he thought ‘I didn’t like it when others helped me’.” Jaypaw snorts, “didn’t have to laugh at me though.”

Lionpaw growls in his chest, Stormfur rests his tail on his shoulders.

“Surely Brambleclaw didn’t let him get away with that!” Hollypaw exclaims, Jaypaw’s ears pin back.

Brightheart shakes her head, “Berrypaw is to catch Jaypaw his favorite piece of prey for dinner to make up for it.”

“Fresh mouse?” Lionpaw guesses, he knows what his brother likes. Jaypaw jerks his head sharply.

Lionpaw can guess though what’s really upsetting his brother, he suspects Berrypaw wasn’t the only one who saw Jaypaw trip.

Stormfur brushes his tail over Lionpaw’s shoulders, “but you’re alright Jaypaw?”

“Yeah, didn’t even bruise anything.” Other than his pride, Lionpaw thinks to himself but says nothing. He’ll get Berrypaw back for that.

He glances to Hollypaw and can see she may not agree to the fire ants, but she does agree that something needs to be done. They’ll figure it out.

They sit there for a heartbeat before Jaypaw sniffs the air and stiffens. Lionpaw gets to his paws in an instant, which gets Stormfur and Brightheart on guard.

“I smell ShadowClan,” Jaypaw tilts his head, “it’s strong.”

“A patrol?” Stormfur asks, Lionpaw unsheathes his claws.

“We are close to the lake,” Brackenfur points out, “they might need to pass through.”

“Not cats.” Jaypaw is certain when he speaks, “scent marks.” He heads into the undergrowth, Brightheart hurries after him. Stormfur flicks his tail and the rest of them follow.

Lionpaw hears Jaypaw’s cry of discovery and Brightheart’s alarm and shoots forward.

“Lionpaw!” Stormfur races after him, they skid to a halt next to Brightheart and Jaypaw.

Lionpaw can smell the scent markers but he knows they’re well with in ThunderClan’s borders. Stormfur’s ears flatten and he turns to call to Brackenfur.

“ShadowClan’s moved the border.” His voice is tight, Lionpaw doesn’t think he’s ever heard the tom angry before.

Brackenfur and Hollypaw arrive a heartbeat later, Brackenfur’s eyes narrowed, Hollypaw’s wide.

“Well spotted Jaypaw,” Brightheart praises him, he nods once.

Hollypaw turns her head, “someone’s coming.”

Lionpaw drops into a fighting crouch, Stormfur bares his fangs, Jaypaw shakes his head though.

Sure, enough the cat that arrives is a wild eyed Birchfall.

“Oh, thank StarClan.” He signals for them to follow, “Spiderleg and Mousepaw are waiting, I sent Brambleclaw’s patrol to them. Dustpelt went to tell Firestar.”

Brackenfur nods, “who is on Brambleclaw’s patrol?” He gently nudges Hollypaw so he’s between her and the new border. Jaypaw slips over to Brightheart’s side, standing on her blind side.

Lionpaw falls into step with Stormfur to bring up the rear as Birchfall answers.

“Brambleclaw, Berrypaw and Graystripe.”

Brackenfur makes a soft noise, “seven warriors and five apprentices should be more than enough to deal with this until Firestar gets here.”

Birchfall nods, Lionpaw looks to Stormfur curiously. What were they going to do?

Stormfur glances at him, “ready for anything?”

“Always.”

“Good.”

Lionpaw comes to a halt with the rest of the patrol, Brambleclaw sits facing the border, Graystripe pacing along it with a soft growl every so often.

“The markers are fresh,” Brambleclaw remarks as they arrive, “they did this recently.”

“ShadowClan warriors nearby!” Jaypaw’s head snaps over and Lionpaw drops into a crouch.

“Well, the newest apprentice notices us before either ThunderClan deputy,” the dark brown tom in the lead spoke, “how humiliating.”

The dark gray tom looked over the group and asked, “Is ThunderClan so desperate that they’re using cripples and outsiders now?”

Jaypaw’s lunge forward was only stopped by Brightheart grabbing him and hauling him back.

“No let him at them,” Stormfur snarls, a chill runs down Lionpaw’s spine, his mentor’s face is twist in rage, “show them just how desperate we are.”

The gray tom snorts at that, “says the half-clan cat.”

Lionpaw spits at him, “he’s got more honor than you do, foxheart! Any ThunderClan cat does!”

“Lionpaw be quiet!” Brambleclaw hisses at him, Lionpaw flattens his ears but Graystripe shoots him a look of approval.

Brambleclaw steps forward, right over the border to face the patrol, “if you want ThunderClan territory you’ll have to fight for every step.”

“Such a hard battle against…” the gray tom looks behind Brambleclaw, Lionpaw is going to shred his ear just for the comment about Stormfur. “Let’s see… a half-blind cat, a blind kitten, two kittypet, a worn-out old deputy, and a half-clan disgrace.”

Lionpaw snarls, a sound that only matches the roar of blood in his ears. He won’t attack until Brambleclaw says but he’ll make that tom pay for every word.

“I think twelve ThunderClan cats is more than enough to handle you.” Brambleclaw replies firmly.

“Are you sure?” The brown tom asks and flicks his tail. The roar in Lionpaw’s ears stops as countless ShadowClan cats appear along the ridge.

“Hollypaw,” Brackenfur speaks softly, “go back to camp. Tell Firestar it’s an ambush. Now.”

Hollypaw looks at him and then Jaypaw with a look of fear but Lionpaw understands his logic. She’s got the least training out of all of them. He gives a small nod, and Jaypaw, spitting furiously from his spot next to Brightheart doesn’t even seem to notice.

Hollypaw turns and runs.

And that’s when everything breaks lose like a storm.

“Stop her!” Oh StarClan, Lionpaw recognizes the she-cat shouting the order, Stormfur had pointed her out at the gathering. Russetfur was here.

Two warriors charge after Hollypaw, Graystripe tackles one to the ground and Lionpaw manages to trip the other though he kicks him to the side and scrambles after Hollypaw.

He pauses, but he can’t go, he’ll have to hope the lead he gave Hollypaw was enough. Stormfur leaps over Birchfall wrestling with a white she-cat to land on a tom sneaking up on Brambleclaw, they twist to fight back to back, Lionpaw’s breath is taken away by how well they fight together. He shakes his head and focus, Jaypaw.

He’s next to Brightheart and Brackenfur, behind them and slashing at anyone that gets past them. He’s fine.

So that gray tom…

Lionpaw spots him, he’s got Mousepaw pinned and clawing at the gray and white apprentice.

Or was before Lionpaw slams directly onto his shoulders to sink his teeth into the muscles near his spine.

The tom howls with pain and Lionpaw feels his body twist in time to jump free before Mousepaw throws him off to slash at his face.

Lionpaw pins him down and kicks at his belly with a few powerful kicks that have him howling. He and Mousepaw release him and watch him run.

“Thanks,” Mousepaw pants, blood streams down his face from a scratch on the top of his head.

“Don’t mention it,” Lionpaw gently nudges him and nods to another warrior, one that’s giving Spiderleg a bit of trouble.

Mousepaw nods.

Lionpaw aims for the warrior’s back legs, knocking them out from under them. They topple with a yowl and Mousepaw rolls them to sink his fangs into their chest and shred their belly with one back paw.

Lionpaw commits that trick to memory and leaps into the fray.

The ginger tom he lands on lets out a cry of surprise as Lionpaw weaves around his paws, he wants to confuse and trip him.

“What are you, a RiverClan cat?” He makes the mistake of taking the time to ask and Lionpaw scores a blow over his cheek and down his muzzle for it.

“Pure ThunderClan,” he replies haughtily and swings again. The tom jerks back out of the way this time but Lionpaw presses his attacks, staying light on his paws to avoid being hit and landing blow after blow on his shoulders.

The tom lunges forward so suddenly Lionpaw’s next attack almost splits his ear in two but he bowls Lionpaw over to pin him down.

Lionpaw snarls and kicks up with his back paws which almost throws him off. The tom presses his down and raises a paw to bring down over his face. But Lionpaw’s not been training with Stormfur for nothing and wiggles loose to dodge the blow.

A brown blur slams into the tom and bowls him over, Stormfur lands over Lionpaw, snarling and shielding him.

Brambleclaw’s pinned Lionpaw’s attacker down and hesitates, “Rowanclaw?”

The hesitation lets Lionpaw’s father get buried by two other ShadowClan cats, Lionpaw and Stormfur lunge forward to help haul them off Brambleclaw. Rowanclaw slashes at Lionpaw again but he just gives a powerful back kick to knock him back.

He hauls a black she-cat off his father and Stormfur twists to slash her shoulder open and sending howling away, leaving some of her pelt in Lionpaw’s teeth and claws.

Stormfur faces Rowanclaw and spits, “I figured Tawnypelt would have better taste than some foxhearted bully,” Stormfur snarls, Lionpaw’s eyes widen. “Guess I was wrong. Lionpaw help Brambleclaw!”

Lionpaw leaves Rowanclaw to Stormfur, his father is amazing as he twists and weaves to fight two opponents but even Brambleclaw can’t last forever.

So Lionpaw bites down on the next tail that comes close. A brown and white tom howls in pain and Lionpaw bites down a bit harder. The tom sprints off and Lionpaw looks to Brambleclaw.

His father’s pinning down the she-cat, “Find Jaypaw!”

“He’s fine!” Lionpaw insists but turns to do it anyway. Sure, enough Jaypaw is still next to Brightheart, helping her handle a pair of ShadowClan warriors.

But they’re getting overwhelmed. He can see almost everyone is fighting at least two ShadowClan warriors.

He looks for Mousepaw, his friend is helping Berrypaw to his paws while Graystripe takes on three ShadowClan cats. He starts towards them but Brackenfur throws another cat right into Graystripe’s opponents, bowling them over. Mousepaw and Berrypaw waste no time taking the advantage when given.

Lionpaw darts to Birchfall, the youngest ThunderClan warrior is looking a bit overwhelmed by the two ShadowClan cats in front of him.

Lionpaw comes up behind and sends the tortoiseshell apprentice sprawling with a RiverClan move Stormfur taught him before grabbing her by the scruff to drag off for a more personal fight.

She breaks lose from him, hissing and spiting and they begin their fight. Lionpaw darts and twists around her, nimbler than he thinks she expects.

A yowl splits the air and catches her attention, making her pause and Lionpaw lunges. As Firestar rushes past with ThunderClan reinforcements Lionpaw bites down on her shoulder and kicks at her stomach like he saw Mousepaw do.

She yowls and he lets go, watching her sprint off. Now the fighting is more evenly matched, thank StarClan.

Hollypaw bounds past him to run to Graystripe’s aid, Lionpaw looks for Jaypaw.

The apprentice from the start of this is trying to duck around Jaypaw and confuse him but Jaypaw’s used to Lionpaw’s style of fighting and seems to be having no trouble.

Lionpaw bounds over anyway, the apprentice backs up as Lionpaw approaches.

“Not bad for a half-blind kitten huh?” Jaypaw snarls and the apprentice, who has to be older than them, takes a step back.

“Look if my brother wants your fur for his nest, I’m not going to stop him,” Lionpaw tells him. He can see the battered tom consider taking on both of them, before he turns around and runs.

“Fox dung,” Jaypaw curses, “now what am I supposed to line my nest with?”

“Berrypaw’s fur?” Lionpaw offers and his brother laughs. There’s a few scratches over his face but nothing that would bother him. His blue gray fur is wild, but his eyes are bright.

They jump into battle together, maybe not as coordinated as Brambleclaw and Stormfur but a fierce pair, nonetheless. Jaypaw’s very defensive style easily confuses the ShadowClan cats as he ducks and weaves and uses their own attacks against them to find where they are and maul them. Lionpaw provides support, tripping them, weaving around to land blows making focusing on Jaypaw even harder.

“Drive them into the brambles!” Graystripe yowls, Lionpaw lifts his head to listen for more instructions.

“Do as he says!” Firestar calls.

“ThunderClan! To me!” Brambleclaw has positioned himself on the former ShadowClan border and Lionpaw runs to join his Clanmates falling alongside his father. He spots Firestar and Stormfur on either side of Brambleclaw, all the ThunderClan cats forming a barrier between ShadowClan and their territory.

Russetfur looks at them with confusion and alarm, before they press forward.

Lionpaw almost laughs at how ShadowClan begins to flounder as they become tangled in the brambles, he doesn’t have to trip them anymore, they’re falling all over ThunderClan territory. He gives a few swipes at his opponent, but she seems focused on the brambles she’s only tangling herself deeper into.

“Retreat ShadowClan! Retreat!” Russetfur’s call makes the ThunderClan line part, ShadowClan cats streaking off but leaving much of their fur stuck in the bracken and brambles.

Russetfur stops at the old border to give them a last glare before she follows after her Clanmates.

“We did it!” Hollypaw seems to appear at Lionpaw’s side, a scratch over her nose but green eyes wide with excitement.

Lionpaw lets out a pleased purr, “Jaypaw?”

His brother pops up from behind Birchfall, the brown tom testing his weight on an injured back leg. “What?” He weaves through their Clan mates as though he can see them to join his siblings.

“Is everyone alright?” Firestar calls.

The three of them nod. Birchfall seems to determine that his back leg’s fine and stands tall.

“Sandstorm twisted her paw,” Brackenfur calls.

“I’ve lost a bit of fur on my tail but it’s worth it!” Spiderleg spits in the direction of ShadowClan.

“Stormfur?” Brambleclaw asks, “that cut on your shoulder look bad.”

“I’m fine,” he shrugs and Lionpaw lets out a breath of relief, “it’ll heal, it’s just long.”

Brook speaks up, “I can take a patrol to mark the correct border.” She glances at Spiderleg and Lionpaw remembers his Clanmates comments and sneers to her and Stormfur.

But all he says is “I’ll come with you.”

Firestar nods and looks them over, “Anyone else?”

“Can I go?” Berrypaw asks, looking to Brambleclaw. His mentor gives him a sniff and nods, “very well.”

“Good job getting here so quickly,” Graystripe meows to Hollypaw, she gives him a small nod while Jaypaw and Lionpaw bump their shoulders into her.

“You fought like a warrior,” Brackenfur praises her.

“Lionpaw was relentless in battle!” Stormfur’s proud call makes Lionpaw duck his head in embarrassment.

“And Jaypaw never gave ground!” Brightheart’s pride shines from her good eye and Jaypaw lifts his head proudly. Lionpaw glances to his father and sees Brambleclaw looking at them with only pride.

Firestar nods, “Brambleclaw.” Lionpaw’s father snaps to attention, “take Ashfur and Birchfall to make sure no ShadowClan warriors went further into our territory.”

Brambleclaw nods and flicks his tail to the two warriors. He calls to Brook, “mark every tree twice.”

The brown she-cat nods, “they will remember where the true border is when we’re done.”

Brambleclaw dips his head, gives Lionpaw and his siblings one last look, and then leads his patrol away.

The three of them fall into their old pattern, Hollypaw a step ahead, Lionpaw and Jaypaw side by side.

Brackenfur moves over to them, “not quite the patrol I meant to take you on,” he told Hollypaw warmly, “but I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you!” She looks up at him is surprise.

“You fight like a natural,” he continues, “I look forward to seeing what you can do once we’ve had more training.”

“I won’t let you down!” Hollypaw promises, Jaypaw and Lionpaw both let out encouraging purrs.

Stormfur falls behind every so often stopping to lick his wound but bounds to catch up, “Lionpaw you fought like LionClan itself.”

“Just did what you taught me,” Lionpaw replies with a flick of his ears, his exhaustion chased away by the warmth of Stormfur’s praise.

“All three of you fought well.” Brightheart’s voice is softer but no less warm. “Jaypaw I saw you, you pulled that rake we’ve been practicing off perfectly.”

“About time,” Jaypaw grumbles but Lionpaw knows he’s pleased he’s impressed his mentor.

“Berrypaw still owes me that mouse, right?” he asks and Lionpaw can’t help the exhausted laugh that breaks out of him.

Stormfur stops to lick his wound again before catching back up, “but Lionpaw? I’m very proud of how well you fought and how you protect your Clanmates. You did very well, and I’ll make sure to tell your parents.”

Lionpaw blinks up at him and just nuzzles into Stormfur’s side, careful of any wounds, “thank you.”

The exhaustion slowly sets in on the trip to camp, only barely held at bay by the thrill of having won and Stormfur’s praise. He almost doesn’t notice how Graystripe and Firestar speak quietly to each other the entire trip back.


End file.
